overshadow
/ˌoʊ.vɚˈʃæd.oʊ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.71 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "While he thus ſpake, there came a cloud, and ouerſhadowed them, ⁊ they feared, as they entred into the cloude."
- "A branch of rail transport that seems to been rather neglected by historians is that concerned with cliff railways, of which a fair number exist in Great Britain. This is probably because these lines are overshadowed by the more spectacular funicular railways in Switzerland and other mountainous regions; perhaps, too, because of the general habit of referring to them as "cliff lifts," which tends to associate them with the vertical indoor type."
- "This is itself a cheerless spot, particularly on a rainy day, when, overshadowed by the great massif of rock that towers in the background, and surrounded by the grey and cheerless quarries, it has a depressing character much in contrast with the green verdure encountered on the northern end of this interesting branch line."
- "Only a handful of rock musicians have become genuine icons - larger-than-life symbolic figures whose personal triumphs and vicissitudes seem to mirror the ups and downs of rock as a whole, and sometimes of the society that nurtures it. Often, rock icons become the objects of personality cults that tend to overshadow their musical accomplishments."
- "President Obama gave an important press conference today and even took questions from the press, but all of this was overshadowed by the fact that Obama debuted one of the ugliest suits in the history of this great nation."
- "It’s surely consequential that Jon has a claim to the throne, whether he knows about it or not, but all of that is overshadowed by his immediate circumstances, which are that Jon Snow is leading a raiding party beyond the Wall to kidnap a wight."
Etymology
From Middle English overschadwen, overschadewe, from Old English ofersċeadwian (“to overshadow”), equivalent to over- + shadow. Compare with West Frisian oerskaduwe (“to overshadow”), Dutch overschaduwen (“to overshadow”), German überschatten (“to overshadow”), Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌳𐍅𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ufarskadwjan, “to overshadow”), and more distantly, Old Norse yfirskyggja (“to overshadow”), Danish overskygge (“to overshadow”), Swedish överskugga (“to overshadow”), Old English ofersċūwan (“to overshadow”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌoʊ.vɚˈʃæd.oʊ/
- British English: /ˌəʊ.vəˈʃæd.əʊ/